South African CIOs share their 2026 priorities, from strengthening teams and driving transformation to creating time for family, growth and personal curiosity.
The demands placed on today’s CIO extend beyond technology delivery. As they navigate transformation mandates, regional expansion and growing team responsibilities, many are also setting clear personal priorities for the year ahead. CIO South Africa spoke to several IT leaders about what sits on their bucket list for 2026.
Mary Mahuma, CIO sub-Sahara Africa, Philip Morris International
For Mary, 2026 is about balancing leadership impact with family time. On the personal front, she is committed to creating meaningful experiences with her children. “I want to continue to travel and create memories with my kids. I want to do it now. I do not want to do it later.”
She has made a commitment to travel with them at least twice a year, saying these experiences broaden their outlook. “It gives them different perspectives of life and opportunities and possibilities which are endless. They become bigger dreamers.” Spending more time with her mother, sister and extended family is also a priority this year.
Professionally, Mary wants to fully step into the scale of the role she has recently taken on. “I want to take on this big role that I have been entrusted with and make sure that I truly understand the sub-Saharan business.”
She plans to deepen her business acumen, strengthen relationships and gain a deeper understanding of customers and consumers across the region. Mary also hopes to introduce meaningful change.
“I want to bring transformation and innovation into what already exists. I would like to create something that is not there. Whether you call it a legacy or a footprint, I want it to be clear that a young South African woman took over this role and introduced new things that bettered our business.”
Sizwe Ndlovu, CTO, Pineapple
Sizwe’s personal curiosity is guiding one of his goals for the year. “I really want to learn hardware. I am keen to understand how things are built. I feel very intrigued about it, so that is something I am trying to learn right now,” he says excitedly.
From a professional perspective, his focus is on strengthening culture and unlocking the potential of his team. “I want to activate and reinforce a forward thinking culture and tap into the best of the team’s abilities so that they can do the best work of their lives.”
Building a strong and enthusiastic team is another priority. “I want to grow the team and bring in solid people who are enthusiastic about building themselves and doing great work.”
Dr Sylvia Sathekge, CIO, NHLS
Dr Sylvia describes her outlook for the year in simple terms. “My goal every year is to level it up,” she says. Having spent the past several months settling into a large organisation, her professional focus now centres on strengthening its foundations.
“I am eight months into the position, so my focus is to stabilise first because it is such a big organisation. I want to move from stability into supporting and transforming,” she adds.
